There is no need to say more: this year's SchlagerPride was a big success! Former stars of Melodifestivalen dominated the evening. The line-up of international stars was also impressive; two former Eurovision Song Contest winners, Nicole and the Bobbysocks, attended the show. Also appearing; Selma from Iceland, Luminta & Sistem from Romania, Annabel Conde from Spain and Xandee from Belgium. A photo gallery of last night's event is up!
Yesterday it was raining in Stockholm, but as the SchlagerPride was about to start, the skies cleared up. Even a rainbow raised above Stockholm; a perfect start for a colourful Pride event!
Mark Levengood, host of Melodifestivalen in 2003 and 2005, hosted the evening. Pekka Heino, long time commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest at SVT and Thomas Lundin, commentator at YLE, co-hosted the event. Sanna Nielsen opened the evening with her Melodifestivalen entry from 2003, Hela världen för mig.
The evening was focused on Melodifestivalen classics. Many forgotten artists appeared on stage, in many cases performing their songs for the very first time since they competed with them at the Eurovision Song Contest. Remarkable appearances in that genre were “Shakin” Fredrik and Bel Air. Elisabeth Andreassen and Kikki Danielsson sang some of their old-time hits, from their time together in Chips.
Although Nicole with Ein bißchen Frieden and the Bobbysocks got a huge response from the crowd, it were the Melodifestivalen stars Linda Bengtzing and Arja Sajonmaa that pretty much won the hearts of the crowd yesterday.
The performing artists entered stage again for the closing song La det Swinge, the Bobbysocks' winning tune from 1985.
The ovations seemed never to stop and, to please the audience, Arja Sajonmaa was called back on stage to sing her Högt över havet once again. Some of the stars left for the official after-party at Club Mondo.
SchlagerPride 2005 – The complete list
First act
Second act
Extra
Last year, the organization was criticised by many because of the amount of “harcore” Eurovision Song Contest participants. However, this edition was an intelligent mix of mainstream and hardcore schlager, which resulted in an overwhelmingly positive audience!